Destiny
by velociraptor52
Summary: What did Caleb mean that Xander's the one who sees things? Please R & R!
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Another attempt at a Xander story.  
  
Disclaimer: Do I even have to say it? I mean, you know what a disclaimer is. I don't own the characters.  
  
Summary: What did Caleb mean exactly by Xander's the one who sees things? Takes place after Dirty Girls, and these are my thoughts of what Caleb meant.  
  
Destiny  
  
The hospital room was ghostly quiet. It was completely dark, except for some light in the corner of the room. But even still, the only noise in the room was the quiet breathing of Xander, and the soft crying from Willow.  
  
Willow didn't know what went on at the vineyard, but Buffy filled her in on everything. A new enemy killing Potential Slayers, that's something, Willow thought. And it was the new enemy that took some life out of Xander. The blood on her hands is Xander's. Stained on her hands.  
  
How dare he do this to Xander, she thought, looking down at her hands. She never felt this angry before. She felt angrier right now than the time when Tara died. And I should. I've known Xander all my life, she reminded herself.  
  
"And I almost lost him. If I were there, I would've saved Xander," Willow said out loud. "He would've been saved."  
  
"Gee," Xander says. "I haven't died. At least not yet."  
  
Xander!  
  
"Xander! You're okay! I mean, you lost an eye, but you're alive!" Willow stood up quickly, almost knocking over the chair. "I should go get Buffy, or someone," she offers.  
  
"Willow." Xander begins.  
  
"Yeah?" Willow asks cheerfully.  
  
"Help me," Xander says weakly.  
  
Willow frowns. "With what?" Maybe it has something to do with the fight. "We are going to kill the enemy, so you don't have to worry about that."  
  
"No, not that. Caleb, the enemy, said to me, that I'm the one who sees things. Right before he took out my eye."  
  
"So?"  
  
"It's true," Xander responds. "I do see things."  
  
Willow laughs. "We all see things, Xander. We do have eyes."  
  
"Not that," Xander sighs. "Not all people have the ability to see into the future."  
  
"The future? What about it?" Willow thinks hard. Then, it crosses her mind. "Oh my God!"  
  
"Yeah. I know."  
  
"You can see into the future? When did this happen?"  
  
"Around the time when you almost destroyed the world, and I butt in on your ritual with that statue." Xander grins. "Guess I have superpowers, too. Just like you."  
  
Call Buffy. Call Giles. Call Spike even, Willow thinks. "Let's tell someone!" Willow suggests excitedly. "They have to know this!" Willow starts to leave.  
  
"No!" Xander tries to sit up. "If you tell them about my power, then they'll start to ask about what happens to them. If they'll win the fight. We can't change destiny. We can't know the future and what happens to us before hand, we just have to accept the changes. Things happen for a reason. It's for their own good," Xander adds as Willow gives him a hurtful look.  
  
"Then why'd you tell me?" Willow asks.  
  
"Because you're my friend. You're the most faithful friend that I have, and I love you."  
  
Xander loves me? Willow starts crying. "Xander."  
  
"We just have to accept destiny, and what happens to us." 


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Many people seem to like this story, so here's another chapter!

Destiny: Chapter 2 

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_It's morning._

That was the first thing that came to Willow's mind when she woke up. 

Everything that happened last night was a blur to her, but all she knew was that Xander could see into the future. She suddenly remembered more. When she was crying, Xander held her in his arms, and she fell asleep.

She was in bed with Xander, and even though it wasn't very big for the both of them, they both managed to stay on the bed without falling off in the middle of the night.

Willow got up, being very careful not to disturb Xander. _Somehow, _Willow thought as she looked down at him, _he looks very cute while he sleeps. _Willow grinned, and went to go get some coffee for the both of them.

When she reached the lobby of the hospital, she saw Buffy and Spike.

"Hey, Buffy!" Willow called out.

Buffy turned around. "Hey." She grinned. "We just wanted to see how Xander was doing." She motioned to Spike, who sighed.

"She dragged me along," Spike pointed out and looked around at the lobby. "Besides, hospitals are bad luck to us. Somebody gets hurt, we send them to the hospital, then more people get hurt the next day and we have to send those people to the--"

"Oh, well, he's asleep, but he should wake up any minute," Willow interrupted Spike. "And last night, he told me that he—" she faltered. She remembered Xander saying that they can't know.

"What happened last night?" Buffy asked.

"He—he told me that he felt better. And that he missed you guys," Willow lied.

"Really?" Spike asked, interested.

"Oh, not you. He still hates you," Willow said quickly.

"Well, I still hate him and I still came here to visit him," Spike muttered. "If he does wake up then, tell him that he should be grateful that I saved his life." Spike turned, grabbed his brown, tattered blanket to protect him from the sun, threw it over himself, and walked out the doors of the hospital.

"Well, he's very cranky," Willow said once she was sure that Spike was gone for good.

"Well," Buffy began, "we all are. We lost two girls, and we almost lost Xander. And I think Spike feels more guilty than the rest of us right now."

"I'm sorry," Willow apologized.

Buffy gave her a questionable look. "For what?"

"Everything, basically. I'm sorry I couldn't have been there to save Xander quicker, and the rest of the girls, too."

Buffy sighed. "It's all right. You do your job, and I'll do my job. And your job is to take care of Xander."

Willow smiled. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Let's see if he's awake."

"Hey, Xander, guess who came to visit," Willow said with great enthusiasm.

Xander, who was awake, smiled as he saw Buffy. "Hey, Buffster. Long time, and no see," he joked.

Willow, sensing that it was Buffy and Xander time, decided to leave to get the coffee she had forgotten.

"Hi, Xander." Buffy smiled. "Um…Spike was here, but he left. He told me to say hi to you for him, so, another hi."

Xander nodded. "Did you give the two girls who passed away a proper burial? Next to Chloe and Annabelle?"

Buffy nodded. "Yeah. We did. Molly and…I forgot the other girl's name…"

"Chao-Ahn…" Xander said quietly.

"Oh, Xander." Buffy sniffed. "They were so young. They had their whole life taken away from them. They could have been someone more than they were destined for."

"It's all right, Buffy. They're in a better place now. That's all that matters. Away from all the hunger and pain of the world." Then he added quietly, "Away from the end of the world."

Through all the tears, Buffy managed to smile. "You're right, Xander. They must be happier where ever they are. And my mom must be treating them to chicken noodle soup, too."

"Your mother made great hot chocolate back then, too," Xander said, which uplifted Buffy's spirits. "Her hot chocolate was irresistible."

"Yeah, it was." Buffy nodded. "I remember this one time back in LA, it was Christmas, and my mom typed out her recipe on the computer, copied them, and we both went around the neighborhood caroling and passing out her recipe, but no body could make hot chocolate like my mom. She left out one secret ingredient on the recipe she typed out: cinnamon." She laughed at the thought of it. "She added cinnamon to the hot chocolate, which gave it a little spice."

"That must have been some time."

Buffy grinned. "Yeah, it was. Just thinking about that time makes me think that she's still here…with me."

"Hey, guys," Willow came back, carrying three cups with no lids. Steam rose from each of them, giving off a smell of chocolate.

"Hot chocolate, Will?" Buffy asked as Willow handed her cup to her.

"Yeah, they ran out of coffee, so I had to get these. Just as hot, but more delicious. Here you go, Xander." Willow gave Xander his cup.

"Thanks, Willow." He took the cup with both hands and blew on the hot chocolate to cool it down.

Buffy sipped hers carefully. "I was just telling Xander about this time when my mom and I went caroling. She made the best hot chocolate in town, and she copied the recipes to give to neighbors as we went around caroling to them. But she left out the secret ingredient: cinnamon."

Willow smiled. "Wow, that must have been really good."

Buffy frowned. "Which part?"

"Hanging out with your mom. My mom and I, we never really bonded, so we never got to carol that much."

"So," Buffy began, looking at the hot chocolate swirling around in her cup, "do you know when Xander can come out?"

"Oh, tomorrow. If not, Friday the latest."

"Well, that's a relief," Xander spoke up, "the hospital food was getting to me."

Buffy and Willow laughed, which filled the room. Then the laughter got quieter and quieter until it was silent again.

"Hey, guys," Buffy broke the silence, "does anybody have cinnamon?"

They all started laughing again.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thanks for the kind reviews!  You are the people who motivate me to write more!

Destiny: Chapter 3 

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Buffy left the hospital later that day to check on the house and the potentials, including Spike.  She felt somewhat responsible for him leaving, but Willow disagreed.

"You didn't do anything wrong to hurt his feelings, Buffy," Willow stated.

Buffy sighed, struggling to get on her coat.  "I know, but I feel like something's bad about to happen here, and I can't stop it."

Willow frowned.  "But what has that got to do with Spike?" she asked.

Buffy shrugged.  "I don't know.  It's like the world is about to end soon, and if it does, I may not get to tell Spike the truth.  If he dies tomorrow, I won't be able to tell him my true feelings for him." 

"Everybody should tell their true feelings to the one they love," Willow said, agreeing with Buffy.  Somehow, what Willow had just said described her feelings for Xander. "You go on home, and I'll stay here with Xander," she suggested, determined to tell Xander how she felt for him.

Buffy sighed again.  "Okay," she said once she got on her coat.  "I'll go home," she said rather reluctantly.  She had wanted to stay with Xander, but knew that she had to go home.  "Oh, and Faith should be visiting sometime tonight," she added before she left.

It was Willow's turn to sigh this time.  Hospitals gave off an eerie feeling whenever she was in them.  Buffy often felt the same way.  Maybe it was because of that incident five years ago when demon only kids' could see killed them.  Or maybe it was because Buffy's mother had been in the hospital once.  Whatever it was, when night rolled around, Willow was a tiny bit scared.  To ease of the scariness the hospital gave her, she decided to talk to Xander instead of walking around the hospital, which was what she was doing for the past five hours.

"Hey, Xander," Willow greeted when she was back in Xander's room.  "Buffy just left about five hours ago, but Faith should come around tonight."

"That's good," Xander said.  

"So, do you have some strength to get out of bed?  Andrew dropped off his Gamecube, and I was thinking of playing a game with you," Willow offered, holding up the Gamecube.

Xander grinned.  "Yeah, I'm up to it.  What kind of games does he have?"

Willow shuffled through the stack of games she had.  "Um, a game called Pikman, um…Super Smash Brother's Melee, and…that's about it."

"He only has two games?" Xander sighed, and shook his head in disappointment.  "For a nerd he is, he kind of disappoints me.  Wait a minute," he added, "let me see those games…"

Willow handed Xander the two games.  "Well," he started, looking at the back of each case, "this one is a two player game." He held up Super Smash Brothers Melee.  "And this one is a one player game." He held up the Pikman game.  "Which one do you want to play?" He asked Willow, throwing the two games aside for now.

Willow shook her head.  "None, I mean…well, what do you want to do?"

"Well," Xander sighed.  "What's on your mind?"

"What?" Willow sat down in a chair, and rested the Gamecube on the floor.  "Nothing's on my mind.  What gave you the idea that something was on my mind?  If something was on my mind, it would be me loving you right now."

"What?" Xander asked, suddenly surprised.

Willow faltered, her eyes going wide.  "Nothing.  Anything I said doesn't mean anything to you, okay?  So, okay, I'm with Kennedy, but that doesn't mean I can't be with you too, right?  I can be loyal to both you and Kennedy, just give me time and everything will work out."

"Willow, are you saying that you…?"

"Love you?  Yeah, I do.  I do love you, Xander, and I'm sorry if I can't help it, the end of the world may be near, and I can't tell my true feelings to you?  Is that it?" Willow stood up, breathing hard, and was close to crying.

"No, Willow, I love you, too.  I'm just kind of surprised…I think…" Xander got up from bed, and walked over to Willow.  "And don't cry," he added softly.

Willow sniffed.  "I'm sorry," she apologized, drying her eyes with a tissue.  "I just keep thinking about the end, and wonder who will die, and who will survive.  You're my whole world, my whole heart.  If you die in the final battle, I loose my heart, and Xander…I can't live without you."

"Everything's going to be all right," he said softly, his voice strong and sure of what he spoke.  "I promise that I won't die in the end.  I'm positive."

Willow laughed.  "Did you see that in one of your visions of the future?" She asked, slightly interested.

"No, I just know." He smiled.  "You're my whole heart, too.  Every time I see you, you light up my heart.  With you by my side, I'm positive that we can't loose against the First." 

Willow smiled.  "Really?"

Xander nodded.  "Really."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome."

It grew quiet, until the only noises were the nurses pacing up and down the long hallway.  Willow fidgeted at the lack of noise, and was tempted to break the silence; only she didn't know what to say.  

"Hey, Xander?" Willow asked, eyes closed.

"What?" He asked.

"Remember when it was just us?  You know, no Kennedy or Anya.  What changed?" Willow forced herself to look at Xander.  "What changed us in high school that we didn't love each other like we used to?"

Xander sighed, thinking about what to say.  "I don't know what changed, Willow.  All I know is that you had Oz, and I had Cordelia.  But I do know one thing: our love will always last forever, even if we are with someone else."

"So do you think us being together is fate?  Was it meant to happen?" 

Xander didn't get a chance to answer Willow's question, because Faith walked in the room.

"Hey, guys," she greeted, and stepped into the room without knocking.

Xander looked at Faith, slightly irritated.  "It's called knocking."

"Yeah," Faith said unsurely, "but the door was open.  Jeez, can you feel the love tonight in this room, or what?" Willow sighed, and glanced at Faith, who frowned.  "What, haven't you heard of Elton John's 'Can You Feel The Love Tonight' song?"

"Yeah, I watched the movie Lion King, just never thought it'd applied to us," Willow said.

"'Sides, I need to talk to Xander, you know how it is, everbody else is doing it, might as well do it." Faith eyed Willow cautiously.  "Please," she added exaggerated.

"Okay, well, I'll be out in the lobby if you two need anything," Willow offered, and walked past Faith, glaring at her.

"What's up with Willow?" Faith asked Xander when she was sure Willow wasn't close enough to hear.

"Nothing, she's just a little…stressed," he replied, choosing his words carefully.

"We're all stressed, although I think it's taking its anger out on Buffy.  She needs to lighten up a bit, have a little fun." She sat on the edge of the bed.  "She's driving the girls' way too hard."

"Nah, I think she's fine.  She's just a little scared.  We all are," he added after thinking about it a little.  

"Look, I just came stopped by here to say that I'm sorry.  Granted, I don't know what it's like to loose an eye, but I can probably guess how it feels."

"It's not your fault, Faith."

"I realize that, Xander, I'm just sorry that you lost an eye." Then, she added, "I hope that wasn't your good eye."

"What are you doing here, Spike?" Willow asked as she reached the lobby.  Spike was pacing back and forth, clearly agitated by something.  He stopped pacing, however, when Willow walked over to him.  "Spike?" That was when she spotted dark stained blood on the back of his leather duster.  "What happened?"

"I ran into a Doxalton demon," he informed Willow.

"What?"

"A Doxalton demon.  You know, always for the killing, of course, every demon's all about the killing nowadays," Spike said, clearly hurt.  "I put up a good fight with it, but in the end, it somehow got me—"

"Whoa, wait.  What's a Doxalton demon?" Willow asked Spike, a little concerned for him.  "And, another thing, are you okay?"

Spike answered the first question, "A Doxalton demon kills the people who have visions of the future.  That's all I know, apparently, because I only ran into it once in my past.  Nasty little things, Doxalton demons.  By the way," he added, "do you happen to know anyone with the gift of seeing into the future?"

"No," Willow lied.  Now her concern for Spike turned over to Xander, and blamed herself as if she summoned the demon.  "I don't know anyone with that certain gift."

Spike sighed, and looked over his shoulder at the entrance doors of the hospital.  He was apparently searching, or looking, for something, Willow guessed, because he seemed to be in another world. 

"Spike?" she asked again.

"Don't know if it followed me, but if he did…" he sighed, and looked back at Willow.  

"Are you okay?" She asked, changing the subject.

"No, not much.  Couple of scratches here and there, um…possibly nothing, though that demon had a strong hold on my left arm." He sat down on one of the chairs, and continued, "Probably just a bruise or something, nothing serious."

"Oh, well, okay." She sat down next to Spike.  "You can stay the night here if you want," she offered.  

Spike sighed.  "Nah, don't want to be a bother to you."

Suddenly, the Doxalton demon burst through the hospital doors, pulling one door off the hinges.

"On the other hand, you might need help fighting this guy, won't you?" Spike asked, staring at the massive demon.

"Uh-huh." Willow nodded.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Sorry for the extreme lack of not updating the story.  It's just most of the time I've been busy on the computer.  "Having fun" busy, not "writing stories" busy, but I'll promise to go back to the "writing" type of busy, with the occasional "playing games on the computer" busy, so here's the fourth chapter!  And thanks for the reviews!

Destiny: Chapter 4 

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The demon roared, or rather, growled loudly.  In one hand, it was grasping one of the entrance doors, and raised it as if it prepared to throw it at both Spike and Willow.  Willow reached her hand out in the air in front of her, and said something.  The door flew from the demon's hand to the side of the lobby, where it crashed into a vending machine, causing the vending machine to fall down to the floor with a crash that echoed throughout the lobby.  

     "I need to go warn the others!" Willow said to Spike as she got up and ran out of sight.

     "Right," Spike said cautiously.  He stood.  "Guess I'll take on the Big Bad myself."  He sighed, and then ran at the demon, preparing to tackle him to the ground.  The demon stepped to the side, while knocking Spike to the ground instead with one if it's clawed hands.

     Willow looked on at the battle of Spike vs. the Doxalton demon from the hallway.  A twinge of guilt developed in her as she stared on at the fight, but she ignored it as she turned, and ran down the hallway to Xander's room.  As she neared the room, she saw Faith.   

     "Faith!" She cried out, halting to stop.  Xander's door was closed, and as Willow tried the handle, she figured it must be locked too.

     "What's wrong?" Faith asked hurriedly.  "Where's the fire?"

     "Why is his door locked?" Willow asked worriedly, trying to open the door even though she knew it was locked.  Any second now, the Doxalton demon could knock Spike unconscious, hunt down Xander, and—Willow gulped at the thought—and possibly even kill Xander.  "I need to warn him!" Willow said through clenched teeth.

     "He's getting changed into decent clothes," Faith answered slowly just in case Willow broke down and attacked her.  "I figured we can all hang out together tonight at the Bronze.  You know how it is, a big apocalypse is coming and we need to party, right?  We need to shake off these stressed feelings out of our bodies by dancing."

     Willow ignored Faith, and struggled against the doorknob.  Hoping to suddenly have Slayer strength, she grasped it hard, and tried to remove the doorknob, or, perhaps break it so the lock was broken.  "Come on!" Willow urged softly, speaking almost as she wanted the door to unlock for her will.  A large roar echoed across the lobby faintly, and reached Willow and Faith.

     "What was that?" Faith asked as she looked down the hallway.

     "That's it," Willow said confidently, and more loudly.  The demon's footsteps echoed as it grew closer to them, and she was done playing games.  Her hand hovering above the doorknob, she said something, and the door flew open.  Luckily, Xander was putting on his shoes, and had on jeans and a white T-shirt.  

     "Willow?" Xander looked up from tying his shoelace.  "What's the matter?" He asked, standing up.

     "Xander," Willow breathed.  "Xander, we need to get out of here…" then she added as another roar echoed around them, "Now."

     "Why?  What's the matter?" He asked again.  "And plus, what was that roar?"

     "I'll explain everything along the way," she answered as she looked from Xander to Faith, then back to Xander.  "We just need to get you out of here safely.  I won't let it kill you," she added, sadness looming on the edge of her voice.

     "Let what kill me?" Xander asked, now as worried as Willow.  

     Faith had a curious look on her face, and added, "Who's going to kill him?"

     "A Doxalton demon," Willow answered, and made no time for Xander and Faith to reply.  "He kills those who have visions of the future.  I don't know why," she added as Xander opened his mouth to speak.  "All I have is the information from Spike, and he isn't very useful at some times."

      "Okay, I'm not so much confused, as that wasn't information hardly," Xander laughed, "but that's where the dinosaur-like roar came from?" Willow nodded frantically.  "And it's going to kill me?" Willow nodded again.  Xander was about to say something else when Faith spoke up.

      "Wait a sec.  You're saying that the Doxingthing demon kills only those who have visions of the future, right?" She asked Willow, who nodded once again.  "Then…" she started, then trailed off as realization finally hit her.  "You're the one who has visions!" Faith turned to Xander and eyed him appreciatively.  Willow saw that look in Faith's eyes and was immediately jealous.

     "Yeah," Xander answered monotonously, and looked to the ground.  He had a grim look on his face.  "Guess the secret is out, huh, Will?"

     Willow also had a grim look on her face.  "Yeah, but who cares." Then, to change the subject, she said, "Look, Xander, we have to go somewhere.  Away from here…away from the demon," she added, recovering from a curious Faith gave her.  "And not just you and me, Xander.  Everybody—the potentials, Buffy, you—" she glanced at Faith—"Spike, Giles, Andrew—everybody needs to leave town in case the Doxalton demon follows us right back to home."  Willow could hear people screaming in the distance, somewhere from in the hospital.  She could hear people pass their doorway, mostly doctors and patients who were able to run.  The ground vibrated with each running step people took.  Another roar echoed in the distance, and more people screamed.  Willow was glad that the potentials that got hurt were upstairs instead of downstairs.

     "It doesn't work that way," came a voice from the doorway.  Willow turned, expecting to see the demon, but instead saw—

     "Spike?  What happened?"  Spike was battered slightly, his leather coat torn at one shoulder, and he was limping slightly.

     Spike ignored Willow's question, and said, "The demon's only got his eye cast on one thing, and that's Xander.  It will only go after Xander.  But now that we're protecting him, the demon will probably want to kill all of us."

     "How do you know that Xander--?" Willow began, but trailed off.

     "Us vampires, good hearing…do the math."

     "But why does this thing want to kill Xander?" Faith asked this question.  "I mean, I get that it wants to kill Xander, but what's the purpose of the demon killing Xander."

     "That's the problem, see?  A couple summers ago, about the time when she was dead—" Willow figured that he was referring to Buffy—"I was bored and decided to look at the various books Giles had.  I came across the Doxalton demon, and read a few theories on why it killed the people who could see into the future.  One: it wants to collect all the powers from people who have power.  For example, he'll take your power—" he acknowledged Willow, who frowned—"he'll take Xander's power, and the Slayers' power.  Then, once he has all the power he needs, he'll destroy the world."

     Faith shot an alarming look to Spike who nodded as if to say, "It's true."

     "Another theory is that he kills the people who have visions of the future because he feels as if they don't deserve to live—"

     "Hey!"

     "Easy, whelp, I didn't write the book.  Anyway, and the last theory—which doesn't really fall under the theories marked 'Xander'—is that the demon finds vampires with a soul, and kills them so the vampire spends an eternity in Hell."

     "So, is it going to kill Xander?" Willow asked worriedly, bringing the theories back to Xander.

     "That's the problem, pet—" Willow blushed after Spike acknowledged her as 'pet'—"when it was just me and Dru, the Doxalton demon was after one of those people who could see into the future.  I think he was part of our line, something like that because he was very tight in our gang.  Maybe he was a vampire, I don't really know.  But he did have the marking of a vampire with a soul."

     "And that marking is…?" Xander asked.

     "Back then, when a vampire was cursed with a soul, they usually have a mark of a cross burnt on the left shoulder.  It was usually done by the vampire who sired them, and, from what I heard, burnt terribly, too.  It stopped about the time when Angel got a soul, though." Spike shook his head.  "What a shame."

     "So, is it after Xander, or you?" Willow asked.

     Spike shrugged.  "Don't know.  Maybe the both of us." He leaned against the wall.  "In any case, that Doxalton demon fled for its life after I beat it down with a chair."

     Willow felt a rush of gratitude towards Spike, then noticed something.  "What happened to your arm?" She asked.

     Spike looked at his left hand.  "Think it's broken, or possibly I strained it." He tried to move his fingers of his left hand.  "In any case, I don't think I can write anymore," he added a little brightly.

     "Okay," Willow tried her best to summarize everything, "a demon is after Xander…or Spike, possibly…this psycho preacher guy is on our tail, along with the First, who wants to kill all of us, I bet, and we've got hundreds of girls at home who aren't even Slayers yet, so that's a bust.  What if that preacher summoned the demon?  And the only way to kill the preacher guy is to kill the demon?" Willow guessed.

     "Doesn't work that way," Spike said.  "It seems the preacher guy is only going after the potentials.  And plus, don't think he needs more strength to go along with his already superhuman strength."

     "Well, who did summon the demon?" Willow asked.  Nobody answered, nobody made any comment as they just stared at the floor or out the window.

     Finally, Xander spoke.  "Buffy…" he began, but trailed off as he closed his eyes.

     "What?" Willow asked, but it was a statement of knowing what Xander meant.

     "The demon will attack her…"

     "The Doxalton demon?" Willow breathed, and then added, "Does she win?"

     Xander opened his eyes, tears visible.  "Unless someone rescues her soon, then…" he sighed, then continued.  "It was all very vague to me.  It was like I was there, but not actually there.  There were—" he corrected himself—"are two people that are going to fight the demon.  One dies."

     "And who's that one?" Willow asked eagerly.

     Xander was about to speak when Faith said, "Spike."

     Both Willow and Xander looked at Faith.  "What?" Willow asked, frowning.

     "He left.  I think he went to help Buffy."

     He could see her in the distance, fighting off the demon.  The demon knocked her down to the ground, leaving her no time to get back up, leaving her exposed so he could bring his clawed hand down on her.

     After Faith reported that Spike left, they all swept out the doors quickly.  Still weak, not being up to running, Willow decided to stay behind with Xander, leaving Faith to run ahead.  Even though they weren't running, they were walking at a fast pace.  "So, Xander, tell me one thing, did you have a…vision…of what would happen at the vineyard, did you…tell anyone?  Why did you let yourself suffer when you could have saved yourself?"

     "Well, I figured that going in there, risking myself to at least save somebody, I would be a better man," Xander replied.

     Willow looked to him, frowning slightly, and wondered why Xander needed to be a better man.  "But why do you need to be a better man?  You already are."

     "I guess I wanted to be the better man because of what happened last year with Anya," Xander said, but half-heartily with a tone that meant he was just guessing partly.

     "So you risked your life for Anya?"

     "And the rest of the gang.  I thought, 'Well, if the apocalypse is coming, might as well make a lasting impression on everyone.'  I wanted everyone to remember me if I did die that night."

     "So, what you did that night, was out of honor?"

     Xander nodded.  "I guess."  But a few seconds later, he changed his answer.  "I went in there, ready to fight, or die in the process.  Because in the past everybody was always saving me sometimes, I wanted to repay them."

     "Oh…I get it."

     They were still not closer to the fight of Buffy, Spike, and Faith vs. the demon even though they were about running, but still walking.

     "Sometimes I wish that I don't have this power," Xander said, breaking the silence.  "It's like a curse at times when I think about it," he continued.

     "Why?" Willow insisted, a bit shocked.  "I think it's great that you have this power.  You can save lives with it."

     "There are only two reasons that I can think of, Willow, so bear with me.  One: I shouldn't mettle with knowing something before it happens.  Sure, it saves lives, but what if I do the wrong thing?  What if that throws the whole universe out of balance?"

     "Okay, you're reminding me of Doc Brown from _Back to the Future.  _Xander, you're saving lives with this power," Willow repeated.

     "I know.  Some people think that the future of our lives is already written while others think that the future is not yet carved in stone and that our future is what we make it.  I'm with the people who think that our future is not carved in stone yet, and we make our future."

     "I don't get what you're saying, Xander."

     "What I'm saying is, what if, with these visions I have, I'm already making their future for them?"

     "So you're saying what if you are the cause if the rest of their life is bad or good?  But Xander, you said it yourself.  The future isn't written."

     "But what if I'm making their future written?" Xander said as they reached the fight at last.  Willow was about to ask Xander what the second reason was when Xander said, "Let's go help them."

     Buffy was knocked out, lying on the ground.  She was the first person Xander and Willow ran to.  Xander knelt on the ground next to Buffy, checking her pulse.  "She's still alive," Xander reported excitedly.  "She's just knocked out."

     Willow breathed a sigh of relief.  "Thank God," she whispered to the sky above, then looked back at the fight.  Faith was trying her best to beat the demon when finally the demon threw her into a park bench nearby.

     "That hurts," Faith demanded as she got up.  "And I'm through with playing games." She ran at the demon.  This time, the demon swung a fist at Faith who ducked in time to avoid the clawed fist.  "Yo, Willow, I think I could use some magic done over here!" She yelled as the demon swung another clawed fist at her and she fell to the ground.

     "Just a minute!" She yelled back as she saw Spike on the ground.  At first, she thought he might be dead, but remembered that he was already dead.  _Still, _she thought as she cast a spell on the demon so the demon couldn't punch Faith, _it wouldn't hurt to check if he's conscious, at least._

     "Thanks for the spell, Willow!" Faith shouted as the demon's punch didn't make contact.  She regained ground immediately and continued fighting.

     "Spike!" Willow shouted as she dropped down to the ground next to the unconscious—or conscious—vampire.  "Spike!" Willow called again, shaking his shoulder.  Spike was lying on his back and, at least Willow thought she heard, mumbled something.  "What?" Willow questioned and tried to hear what Spike was saying.

     "A pure soul_…" _Spike mumbled.  Willow leaned in closer, trying to not be distracted by the overhead thunder and lightning.  "Tell Buffy…the power to beat it…is a pure soul…"

     "What 'it'?" Willow shouted as another rumble of thunder came in.  "Which 'it'?"

     Spike said something else, although Willow couldn't hear him as more thunder rolled in, along with a flash of lightning.

     "Willow," Faith panted as she came up to her.  Willow sighed, and stood up.  "The demon disappeared," Faith stated, gesturing to a circular burnt patch of grass to her left, where she had been fighting the demon.  

     "Interesting," Willow examined as she bent down to get a closer look.  "Are you sure it wasn't lightning?"

     Faith shrugged.  "I don't know, but the demon was standing right there one minute, then the next, it was gone."

     "At least it's gone," Xander stated.  He was watching the whole fight from another park bench nearby.  

     "And no one died," Willow added brightly as she stood back up.  "So is Buffy okay?" She asked Xander.  "I mean, is she conscious?" 

     "A little bit.  At least, as conscious as she is so she can get back home." Xander stood up.  

     "Well, Spike is a little bit out," Willow pointed out.  She squinted at the horizon.  "Daylight is almost coming.  Xander, you stay here with Buffy while Faith and I carry Spike back home."

     "Nah, I can help Buffy home," Xander informed as he helped Buffy get to her legs.

     "Thanks, Xander," Buffy said weakly.

     "I'll walk you home," Xander offered.  "That was a pretty good fight you put up," Xander judged by a thin cut along Buffy's cheek.

     "Yeah," she sighed.  "Hey, I didn't know the doctor released you from the hospital."

     Xander forced a laugh.  "Yeah, I didn't either.  He was in a rush to…get away from the hospital quickly that he released me early."

     Faith knelt down next to Spike.  "Are you sure he's unconscious?  What if he's dead?"

     Willow shrugged.  "Faith, he's always dead."

     Faith laughed a bit.  "I always forget that they're dead," she replied.

     "Buffy…?" Spike mumbled.

     "I think he's coming to," Faith said.  "Spike?  Spike, can you hear me!"

     Spike groaned.  "I can bloody well hear you.  No need to shout."

     "Fine," Faith replied irritated.  "I was just checking to see if you were all right." She stood up.

     Sensing the demon around the area, Willow decided to cut the happiness short.  "Can you stand up?" She asked Spike.  "Or possibly walk?"

     "Yeah.  I think so," he added as he got up from the ground.  Willow could tell the vampire needed fixing up, especially his left hand.  "The demon…it almost killed Buffy…"

     "It almost killed you," Willow said.  "And if we haven't come to rescue you guys from the demon, it might have successfully killed you."

     Despite minor scratches on Spike's face and a bruise on his cheek, he grinned.  "I'm a vampire.  I'm already dead."

     "The demon could have staked you, then," Willow said. 

     "Come on, guys, let's go home already," Faith broke their little conversation, and left for home.

     "We need to patch you up when we get home," Willow told Spike as they followed Faith.  "Make way for Dr. Rosenberg."

     "You don't need to worry about me.  I'll heal."

     "Okay."  Then Willow added, "Just promise me that you won't get into any other fights where you come out seriously injured."

     Spike grinned.  "Fine, I'll keep that promise.  Now you promise me one thing."

     Willow frowned.  _What promise does Spike want me to keep?  He never makes promises.  _"What?"

     "Promise me that you'll look after Xander." Willow was about to reply when Spike continued, "And don't keep this promise for me, keep it for Xander, for the two of you.  If you guys do make it out of this apocalypse, get married, have kids, and have a good life together.  And," he added, "if I don't make it out of the final battle—the final apocalypse—tell Buffy…tell her to live.  Tell her to live her life…even if it has to be without me.  Tell her not to worry about me, and that wherever I am, that I'm—"

     Willow cut in on Spike's speech.  "Whoa, wait a minute, what are you saying?  You'll survive the final battle.  You won't die."

     Spike sighed, bothered by the fact that Willow intruded on his little speech.  "The way I see it, a warrior has to die sometime.  Might as well make the final battle my last.  Just do me a favor and keep my promise, okay?"

     They reached Buffy's house, sunlight barely creeping up on them.  Willow nodded determinedly.  "I will."

     They went in to the house.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter!  By the way, the Doxalton demon will have a lot to do with Caleb and the First Evil.  And I'll try to get two chapters out at the same time from now on, so you guys have more to read before I get the next two chapters out.


	5. Chapter 5

Destiny: Chapter 5

__

     Once Spike and Willow stepped inside the house, all the potentials greeted them.  Kennedy ran up to Willow and hugged her, stating that she missed her greatly.  About half the potentials asked Spike how he got his injuries in which he avoided answering the questions to go down to the basement to sleep.  About three potentials weren't at the house.  Willow figured that they must have been the potentials that had gotten hurt with the fight against Caleb, and were still at the hospital.  Only two potentials were missing.  _The ones that lost their lives to Caleb, _Willow thought sadly.

     When Andrew announced that it was breakfast, Willow decided to stay in the living room instead of being in the kitchen.  To Willow's surprise, Buffy and Xander were in the living room, too, Buffy looking slightly hurt.     

     "Hey, Buffy," Willow greeted as she sat down next to her on one end of the couch, with Xander being on the other end.

     Buffy managed a weak smile to her friend.  "Hey."

     It was quiet for a minute or two until Willow said, "So, Andrew knows how to make breakfast?"

     Buffy nodded.  "Well, kind of.  Unless you count pancakes with chocolate chips in them to be breakfast."

     Xander let out a low whistle.  "We're going to have a lot of energetic potentials around here."

     "Nothing that a good training can cure," Buffy argued.  "They can burn off some energy by training with me." Buffy grimaced at the thought of that.  "Or, possibly Faith.  Or Robin, except that he's staying with the girls at the hospital."  Then she said to Willow, "Kennedy really missed you the past two days."

     "Well, you did tell her that she could have visited me at the hospital?" 

     "Yeah, but she said that hospitals freak her out."

     "The feeling is mutual," Willow muttered under her breath.  "So," she began, "did you see that demon that you were fighting?"

     Buffy moaned.  "Please don't make me remember.  That demon nearly killed me when Spike saved me…by the way," she added, casting a wary look to Giles who had just walked in from the kitchen, "is Spike okay?  I never saw him look so hurt before, not since Glory's torture on him, or what that ubervamp did to him."

     "Well, despite a sight limb and a possibly strained wrist, he's peachy," Willow answered brightly.  Willow turned to Giles.  "Hi, Giles," she greeted.  He acknowledged the greeting by nodding to her.

     "A strained wrist?" Buffy asked, alarmed at the most.

     Willow turned back to Buffy, and shrugged.  "Or broken.  I don't really know which one."

     Buffy sighed before she got up.  "I'm going to go check on him," she stated as she made her way to the basement.

     "He's asleep!" Willow called after her.  Buffy didn't respond.

     "What demon?" Giles asked Willow as he came up to her.  "And why wasn't I informed of this demon?"

     "Oh, you know how it is, it just sort of came upon us," Xander answered.

     "It's true," Willow agreed.  "The demon just came into the hospital one minute and the next minute we were fighting it."

     "What was the demon called?" Giles asked as he took off his glasses to clean them.

     "Well, Spike said it's the Doxalton demon, and he had many theories on why it was attacking us," Willow explained.

     Giles concentrated as he sought out to remember the demon.  "Ah, yes, that demon," he said as he put his glasses back on.  "The Doxalton demon…it has claws on both hands, right?" Willow nodded.  "There are a few drawings on the demon from my books, some of which are oddly strange.  I have not yet encountered the demon so I have no idea what it does look like.  But from what I can gather from drawings and a few reports of sightings, the demon appears to have claws on both hands."

     "Yep, you're right."

     "So far we have only two out of three theories on why it wanted to kill me…" Giles gave a curious look to Xander, "I mean, on why it wanted to kill us.  Yeah, the demon wanted to kill us."

     "Well, from what I read so far, the Doxalton demon steals souls.  Each time he gets a soul, the person without his or her soul is left weak so the demon can kill them.  And each time he gathers a soul, he grows more and more powerful."

     "But why does it want to get souls?" Willow asked.

     "The Doxalton demon is on a search constantly.  Until it can get that right soul, it can't destroy the world.  Only with the pure soul can it get the power to destroy the world.  Without the pure soul, all it can do is kill people with its clawed hands."

     "Who's the person with the pure soul then?"

     "I have no idea," Giles answered defiantly.  "The person with the pure soul can be anyone or anything, for a matter of fact."

     "Like a book?"

     Giles grinned as he shook his head.  "No, it can't be an object.  It can be human, a vampire, a zombie, even, it just has to exist in this universe, and it has to have life."  Giles sighed before he continued.  "There is this one spell where it can identify the person with the pure soul.  I've only heard about it, of course.  I haven't tried yet."

     Buffy came back up from the basement with the First Aid Kit in hand.  "Hey, what's up?" She asked as she set the kit down on the desk.

     "How's Spike?" Willow asked as her friend sat down next to her.

     Buffy shrugged.  "I had to wake him up before I could even talk to him.  He was irritated when I did wake him up, though.  Good news is that he only has a strained wrist, and no other serious injuries.  He should be back to new in a couple of days."  Buffy spotted Giles, and she grinned slightly.  "Hey, Giles."

     "Hello, Buffy," Giles greeted before he began speaking about the spell.  "Anyway, the spell can identify the pure soul.  I doubt I have any information on the incantation of the spell itself in my books, but I'll contact Wesley.  I think I let him borrow a book with the incantation of the spell in it.  But in any case, we'll get a hold of the book somehow."

     "What's a pure soul?" Buffy asked, deeply confused on what the conversation was about.

     "Well, Giles thinks that the demon came here to steal souls until it can find the pure soul in which the demon can then destroy the world," Willow explained quickly.  "Okay, Giles, what will we do if we do find the person with the pure soul?"

     Giles sighed again.  "Well, if and when we do find it, we have to kill that person."  

     "It doesn't make sense, though," Faith said from the stairs.  She was sitting on the last two steps of the staircase, overhearing the conversation.  "Spike said the demon was here to steal our powers."

     "Spike said that?" Giles asked, and got a nod from Faith.

     "He said a couple summers back he was looking through your books," Faith explained simply.

     "I think I'll talk to him about looking through my books," Giles murmured.

     "So when can we get the incantation for the spell?  And the book?" Willow asked to make sure that the conversation didn't go off the tracks.

     "Well, I'll call Wesley today, unless something bad is happening over in LA, which I doubt, then I'll be able to get the book by tomorrow.  Or possibly today at the least."

     "Since that's all cleared up…" Faith sighed and headed upstairs.

     All the potentials slowly cleared up from the kitchen, along with Andrew, to train with Buffy out in the backyard.  Willow was really hungry by the time the conversation had come to a close, so she and Xander decided to grab whatever was leftover from the breakfast rush.  Of course, all except one potential was training outside with Buffy and that potential was Kennedy.

     When Willow stepped into the kitchen, she was hit by another hug from Kennedy.  "Willow…" Kennedy murmured as she hugged her girlfriend.  Willow returned the hug, aware that Xander was in the kitchen also.  Kennedy released Willow from the hug and said, "I made you pancakes."

     Willow smiled, glancing at Xander who was checking to see what kind of cereal to eat.  "Oh…" she looked back to Kennedy. "That's nice." 

     "Thank you," Kennedy replied as she got two plates.  "Andrew's pancakes weren't that good.  Plus, I'm not a chocolate lover.  So I made regular pancakes and blueberry pancakes."

     "I'll take blueberry," Willow stated as she saw Xander pull down Lucky Charms.  "Xander, you can have some pancakes too."

     Xander poured the cereal into a bowl.  "No thanks.  I'm good." He got milk and poured it into the bowl, got a spoon, and retrieved to the living room.

     "Here you go, Willow," Kennedy demanded as she pushed a plate of hot blueberry pancakes into Willow's hands.  "I didn't know how much you wanted, so I started you off with two.  There's plenty, though."

     Willow grinned, reluctantly taking the plate.  "Thanks, Kennedy," she acknowledged as she sat down on one of the stools at the counter.  Kennedy sat beside her, her plate carrying two regular pancakes.

     "No problem," Kennedy said while pouring syrup on her pancakes.  "Anything for my girl."

     "Hmm…" Willow tried a bite of the blueberry pancakes, which she found delicious.  "Too bad Xander isn't here enjoying these pancakes," she said miserably.  "He loves blueberry pancakes."

     "Willow, why are you worrying about Xander?  He can take care of himself.  Besides, you heard him: he was fine with his Lucky Charms."

     "I know…it's just…" defeated, Willow sighed.  "I just worry about him." Willow continued eating her blueberry pancakes.

     Kennedy shrugged, and then went back to her pancakes too.  It was quiet for a minute.  No noise at all except for the occasional chatter for passing the syrup between the both and a fly's buzz.

     "You know," Willow began, breaking the lonely silence, "you really should be out training."

     "I talked to Amanda.  She said she'd tell Buffy about me staying with you."

     Willow looked out the backdoor to the backyard where the potentials were training.  She could see Buffy was going up and down the rows, counting.  Some potential's were missing, Buffy knew that, and she knew the people that weren't injured.  Buffy stopped counting and headed toward the door.

     "Unless Amanda didn't tell Buffy," Kennedy murmured as she saw Buffy heading up the porch.  

     "Hey, Buffy," Willow said in an innocent voice, a small voice, as Buffy entered the kitchen.

     "Willow…" Buffy greeted with a tone that meant she was in charge.  "Kennedy's supposed to be training with the rest of us." Buffy glared at Kennedy.

     "Well," Kennedy started as she got up from the stool, "it was nice talking to you, Willow.  I'll be back…soon," she added as she passed Buffy to the backyard. 

     Buffy made sure Kennedy was out of earshot when she sighed and said, "I just don't get her sometimes." Buffy's tone returned to normal.

     "She's just a teenager, Buffy," Willow said as she got up to put her dish next to the sink.  "She just wants to live her life, and date boys, I bet.  Remember what it was like before you got chosen?"

     "Yeah…I was popular.  I wanted to design dresses after I got out of high school.  I had my whole life planned out…"

     "And then you were chosen to be the Slayer," Willow finished for her.  

     Buffy nodded.  "Yeah…when Merrick said those words, my whole future was taken away from me.  I couldn't get any dates to proms since then."

     "That's probably how Kennedy feels.  She's in between living her life and probably being a Slayer.  Just give her some time, Buffy." Willow left the kitchen, leaving Buffy to return to the backyard to train the potentials.

     "Hey, Xander," Willow greeted cheerfully.  Xander was eating at the living room table with the newspaper spread out in front of him.  He looked up, saw Willow, and grinned. 

     "Hey, Will.  How were those pancakes?"

     "They were good.  You should have had some, though." Willow sat down on the couch next to Xander, and sighed.  Worry was sketched on her face, and Xander could see that.

     "What's the problem?" He asked her.

     "Nothing…except…what if you're the pure soul Giles was talking about?  And we had to kill you?"

     "Wait a minute…we're talking about me, right?  Willow, chances are that I'm not the one with the pure soul.  Besides, if it is me, then there must be an alternative way to beating the demon without having to kill me."

     "But what Spike said…" Willow began, but Xander cut her off.

     "And chances are what Spike said are rumors.  If anything that has to be the one with the pure soul, I'd pick Spike," Xander said with a grin plastered on his face.

     "Why?"

     "Because then we get to kill him, and ta-da!  We're in a Spike-free area!"

     Willow frowned.  "Xander…" she began, but Giles entered the room.

     "I've got good news," he said happily.  "I called Wesley and he said that he has the book with the incantation for the spell.  I should be able to pick it up by today, if the latest." Giles checked his watch.  "And I should be able to get back by lunchtime.  Willow, would you like to come with me to pick up the book?" 

     "No thank you.  I was hoping to get a little bit of sleep."

     "Okay, well…I'll be back as soon as I can," Giles said and headed out the front door.

     "You should get some sleep, too, Xander," Willow suggested.

     "Now that you think about it, I am kind of tired." The two of them stood from the couch.

     "You can bunk with me in my room, Xander.  Probably get away from the noise when the potentials are done training," Willow offered, heading up the stairs.

     "No thanks.  I don't want to be a bother.  I'll just sleep on the couch," Xander said while retrieving his sleeping bag.

     Willow frowned.  "Okay…but if you do want a room away from noise, my room's always open for rental." Then she continued up the stairs.

     An hour and a half's sleep was all Willow could get, due to excess noise from the potentials downstairs and the fact that a crow was being annoying outside her window.  Giving up after closing her window and still hearing the crow's cry, she decided to see what was happening downstairs.

     _Poor Xander, _she immediately thought as she walked downstairs.  A bunch of girls were gathered in the living room, watching TV.  She looked to the kitchen and at least several girls were gathered together, talking loudly about make-up, while two others were discussing something other than make-up.  

     "Hey, any of you seen Buffy?" Willow asked the girls in the kitchen.  Vi and Amanda were part of the group concerning make-up, and they both shook their head.

     "We haven't seen her since after training," Amanda answered, and Vi added, "Maybe she's down in the basement."

     "Okay, well, thanks." Willow left the kitchen, deciding to take Vi's suggestion and check in the basement for Buffy.  The basement door was open, and the lights were on.  "Buffy?" Willow called uncertainly making sure that Buffy was in the basement without going in just in case Spike was still sleeping.

     "Yeah?" 

     Willow grinned, and walked down the basement stairs.  "Hey, what're you all doing down here?" She asked Buffy once she saw Andrew, Dawn, Faith, Robin, Xander, Anya, Giles, and Spike.  Spike was sitting on his cot, looking tired, and a bit annoyed.  _Probably because Buffy woke him up again, _Willow thought.

     "I retrieved the book from Wesley," Giles said, holding up a thick brown book that was torn at the bridge, "and decided to cast the spell today."

     "Why aren't the potentials down here also?" Willow asked once she reached Buffy's side.

     "If we do try to fit all the potentials down here, think of the noise," Buffy answered, grinning.  "Plus, in that book Giles has, we need to from a circle with the caster of the spell standing in the middle of the circle."

     "And I'm thinking Giles will cast the spell?" Willow asked, glancing at Giles, who frowned.

     "It's for precaution, Willow.  This spell is far too powerful for you.  It takes a great deal of concentration, and I already know I'm not the one with the pure soul." Off of Willow's curious look, he added, "Wesley cast the spell back in LA.  None of us were the pure soul."

     Willow thought about it, and then frowned.  "What if the pure soul isn't here?  What if it's far away, like in Hawaii?"

     "I'm certain it's here.  I already cast this one spell, which tells you which city and state the pure soul is in, so now we can cast the actual spell." Giles sighed, and then skimmed through the book only to stop on a page.  "Okay, everyone, we need to form the circle." At that sentence, almost everybody sighed, except Willow, who was eager to see the spell work.  The circle formed quickly, as everyone wanted to get out of the musty basement.  And, unluckily, Xander and Spike happened to be standing next to each other in the circle.

     "What now?" Spike asked, casting an irritating look to Xander.  "Do we have to hold hands and sing Kumbaya?"

     "Hey, I'm not thrilled about this whole situation either.  As far as I'm concerned, I just want to get out of this foul smelling basement and back to life," Xander countered.

     "I live in here, you know!" Spike said, a bit offended.

     "Gee, and maybe that's why it smells so bad," Xander replied.

     "Oh, for God's sake, let's get on with the spell, you two," Giles broke in, stopping their argument before it got out of reach.  He was standing in the middle of the circle, with all eyes on him.  "Now, once this spell is cast, it shouldn't be long before it leads us to the pure soul."

     "And what happens next?" Willow asked with mock-interest.  "Why are you going to kill some innocent when you do find that they're the pure soul?  Why can't we just kill the demon instead?"

     "Willow!" Giles snapped.  He looked up from the book, eyes blazing with anger.  "This is not the time to discuss it!"

     "Why shouldn't we discuss it here and now?  You've always been Mr. Know-It-All; so tell me, do you know what you're doing to an innocent when they find out they're the pure soul?  You're putting them in danger…in our hands.  There must be some other way to kill the demon without having to kill the innocent…"

     All eyes were on Willow as she said, "I don't want to kill an innocent…" then, she added quietly, "I don't want to be a murderer…not again."

     Giles sighed, his patience thinning, and said, in a quiet, but angry, tone, "You will not be the murderer.  I will be." Everybody took a moment to let that sink in before Giles said, "End of discussion." Ignoring seething looks from the crowd, he added, "Let's get on with the spell."

     Willow thought about what had just happened.  She never saw Giles look that angry, not since the time when he found out that she had brought Buffy back to life.  Their trust in each other was slowly fading at each argument, bringing in more hatred.  Even though Giles had said he was going to be the murderer, Willow couldn't bring herself to even think about that.  Willow had always thought she and Giles had some sort of connection.  He trusted her, she trusted him.  Even though they're trust in each other was fading, the connection was still there…somewhere.  With Giles being going to be the murderer, Willow felt like she was going to be the murderer.  _Guess our connection is a strong one, _Willow thought as Giles finished chanting the spell.

     A hazy blue cloud had just appeared in front of Giles.  "Now," he began, staring at the massive cloud that floated in the middle of the basement, "this should lead us to the pure soul.  It's very similar to the spell to locate potentials, just give it a second."

     Xander groaned, and said, "It won't give off that rotten egg smell like the potential slayer cloud, will it?"

     "Even if it did, the overpowering smell of the basement will just knock it right off its feet, won't it?" Spike muttered.

     Unfortunately, Xander heard what Spike said, and countered him.  "Not unless the power of the rotten-egg-smell kicks the ass of the foul-basement-smell."

     Spike grinned. Waiting for the right moment of getting into an argument with the whelp was like waiting over a decade for Angel to be staked: but now it has come.  "Just to let you know…" Spike began, but his happy moment was cut too soon as Buffy quickly said, "Spike!" 

     Sighing, Spike turned his attention to Buffy.  "What?" He asked, a bit annoyed that he didn't get to finish his argument with Xander.

     "Spike…" she repeated, then she added, "Xander…the cloud…"

     Spike turned his attention to what was in front if him, so did Xander.  What replaced Spike's annoyance was that of confusion, then happiness of some sort.  The cloud was directly in front of them both, hovering, as if waiting for something…

     Xander could see that smile on Spike's face, and said, "Don't count your chickens before they hatch, Spike.  After all, it may be me with the most chickens."

     Spike didn't reply, nor did anyone say a word, as they just watched, and waited to see who was the pure soul…

A/N: Cliffhanger! I couldn't resist! You can flame me if you want, but the cliffhanger is staying! Anyway…I hope you enjoyed this chapter…I'm sure I did. Everyone's got problems they need to fix out: Willow and Kennedy, Willow and Xander, Willow and Giles…um…Spike and…Buffy…just to let you know, this story will feature B/S too, I just need to wait until the right moment.

Oh boy, the next chapter will be hard to write…should Spike be the one with the pure soul…? Or should it be Xander…?

*Walks away muttering to herself*


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Okay, all you readers, here's the 6th chapter of Destiny!

Destiny: Chapter 6

     Spike didn't reply, nor did anyone say a word, as they just watched, and waited to see who was the pure soul.  The basement was deathly quiet, nobody dared to move or even talk.  However, Giles finally broke that silence.  "You two, separate," he ordered, pointing to Xander and Spike.

     "Fine with me," Xander said as he stepped aside from Spike, who sighed.

     The rest of the gang moved away from Xander and Spike, on looking the dramatic scene.

     "You know, you don't have to make it sound so bad that this basement smells.  Just give it a bit of posh and an air-freshener and it should smell like my good old ex-crypt in a couple of days.  And my crypt smelled better than this basement does." Spike was about to continue when the hazy blue cloud flew right at the vampire, knocking him off his feet, and slamming him back into the wall.

     Before everyone could comprehend with what just happened, Anya asked impatiently, "There, the spell worked.  Can we go now?"

     Giles, staring at Spike with great interest and confusion, quietly replied, "Yes, you can all go."

     As the rest left the basement, the only ones left over were Spike, Giles, Xander, Willow, Buffy, and Dawn.

     "What happened?" Willow asked, puzzled.  She looked to Giles, who shrugged.

     "It seems that…Spike, amazingly…is the pure soul," Giles answered slowly as if he was still trying to comprehend with what happened a minute ago.

      Buffy, who was helping Spike up, turned to Giles and asked, "So…what now?  Do we have to kill him?"

     Giles glanced at Spike, then at Buffy.  "Well, yes.  Although in order to kill him to stop the demon, we have to find a spell to change him to human first.  I daresay that we can sacrifice a vampire to stop the demon from destroying the world.  However, if we intend for the ritual to work fully, we need actual blood from the pure soul."

     "Great, so I get to be human, for what?  Five seconds, then you go and kill me?" Spike asked, a bit stunned at what just happened.

     "Well, I think you'll be a human a bit longer than just five seconds.  There's a certain time, place, and date we need in order for the ritual to work also, and I need to pick up the book, too." Giles sighed, and looked to Buffy, Willow, Xander, and Dawn.  "Let's talk about this privately," he said, motioning them to come upstairs with him.

     Up stairs, in the living room, Anya and Andrew both were sitting on the couch, talking about a movie.  Xander sighed, and glanced at Willow, who shrugged.  Giles looked irritated at the fact that wherever he went, he was not alone in the house.  Dawn, however, grinned, listening to every word of the conversation before Buffy jumped in to end it.

     "Andrew?" She said in almost a pleading sort of voice.  "We have to talk here."

     However, Anya and Andrew continued talking.

     "See, that's the point.  How could the dinosaurs have gotten on the other island if they can't swim?" Anya asked, not even caring about what Buffy said.

     Andrew grinned before replying to Anya's question.  _Finally, something that I know that is not Star Wars related, _he thought.  "Well, technically, hardly any dinosaurs flew, swam, or walked to the other island.  Site-B, _Isla Sorna_, was another island that was controlled by the Ingen scientists.  It was sort of like a basement where they did their experiments."

     Anya looked puzzled, but realization was slowly coming into view.  "So…these scientists basically created a whole new island with dinosaurs?"

     Grinning broadly, Andrew nodded eagerly.  "Yeah…but we didn't really know about the second island until the second movie, _Jurassic Park: The Lost World.  _The second movie really focused on Ingen, along with the first movie, but the third movie hardly even focused on Ingen."

     "That's kind of pointless," Anya wondered as she glanced at Xander.  

     Again, Andrew nodded.  "Yeah," he agreed.

     "I mean, what was the point of making a third movie if the first two movies were already focused on the two islands?  And what was the point of not making Ingen a part of the third movie?  It was all 'Spinosaurus, ahh!  Raptors, ahh!  Pterodactyls, ahh!'" Anya faked a high-pitched kid-like voice as she said all that.  "I mean," she went back to her regular voice, "you can only focus on both islands only once.  It's kind of dumb to focus on an island twice when the other island is left wide open.  Just pick an island and get on with your life," she commented.

     "Guys, we need to talk," Buffy intruded before Andrew could say anything.

     "Okay, fine, talk," Anya said, waving her conversation with Andrew off the side of the road.  

     "Privately," Buffy added with a sigh.

     "Okay, okay, whatever." Anya sighed as she stood up and left the living room. 

     Buffy looked at Andrew with stern eyes as he stood up and said, "I could stay here.  I can keep a secret if you guys are having a private talk about Anya, but if it's about me…" Andrew looked uncomfortably at his 'friends' as he repeated, "I can keep a secret."

     Giles pulled off his glasses, and as he cleaned them he replied, "This doesn't concern you or Anya.  We—" he motioned to Buffy, Xander, Willow, Dawn and himself—"just need to talk privately."

     Andrew crossed his arms over his chest and heaved an exaggerated sigh.  "Fine…" he muttered and sauntered off to the kitchen.

     "Okay, Giles, talk," Buffy ordered impatiently as she sat down on the couch next to Willow and Xander.  "Tell me we need to kill Spike."

     "We need to kill Spike," Giles said calmly.  "All I have to do is find the spell to change him into human, then I need to find the book that will tell me the time and day of the ritual."

     "So basically this is like what Glory did to Dawn," Willow pointed out as Dawn nodded in agreement.

     "Except we're the ones killing Spike," Dawn said, looking to her sister.

     Buffy let those words sink in for a moment.  "I won't let you kill him," she finally said, glaring at Giles.  "There must be another way to kill the demon without killing Spike."

     "The demon cannot be killed.  The only way to kill it is if we drain the blood of the pure soul," Giles explained with patience.

     "So, the pure soul—Spike—is like its power source.  It the demon gets its hands on Spike and steals his soul, he gets the power to destroy the world," Willow said slowly.

     "If the demon gets Spike before the ritual day and steals his soul, then yes.  Only on the day of the ritual the demon can't steal Spike's soul," Giles corrected what Willow said.

     "So we just have to keep him safe until the day of the ritual," Dawn stated. 

     "I won't let you kill him," Buffy repeated.

     "I will not kill him.  You will," Giles said, and added, "The person who kills Spike must be close to him.  The person who loves him the most must kill him.  I was afraid the pure soul was going to be you.  That's why down in the basement I said that I was going to kill the pure soul."

     Buffy glared at Giles for a moment before she got up.  "Then I'm not going to kill him," she said with a definite tone as she went to the basement.

     "Spike?" Buffy called out as she walked down the steps of the basement.  It was dark yet again; the only light shining was sunlight streaming through the small window, casting a long streak of light across the cement floor.  "Spike?" she called out again.  She knew he was sleeping, but she felt safer calling out his name first.  "Spike?"

     "Bloody hell…can't I get any sleep 'round here?" Spike mumbled.

     Buffy grinned slightly, flicking up the light switch on the wall next to her.  Light filled the room, convincing the vampire to sit up.

     "Twenty minutes," he simply stated.  "Twenty minutes of sleep before you come down here is all I ask of you.  Instead I get five minutes."

     A frown appeared on Buffy's face.  "I'm sorry, Spike.  I just need to tell you something."

     Spike sighed, and then stood, facing Buffy with defeat in his eyes.  "Tell me that you're the one to kill me…tell me and get it over with."

     Tears filled Buffy's eyes as she looked down to the floor, avoiding looking into Spike's eyes and telling him the truth.  "I don't want to," she said quietly, her voice breaking.  "I don't want to be the one to kill you."

     Spike looked on, the defeat in his eyes turning to sadness.

     "I love you…I don't want to kill the person I love," Buffy continued.     

     "Shh, pet, everything will be okay," Spike said with a soothing voice.

     Buffy looked up, and saw that Spike was right next to her.  The vampire caressed her cheek.  "Spike…" Buffy trailed off as she leaned against him, her head on his shoulder.

     Spike thought for a moment, and then wrapped his arms around her.  "I love you, too, pet."

     It was quiet for a moment; both Spike and Buffy let the dramatic feeling hang in the air.

     "How did you know?" Buffy finally asked, relieving the dramatic tension in both of them.

     Spike grinned to himself, and answered back, "I eavesdropped."

     "Poor Buffy."

     "Poor Buffy?  Come on, Willow, why'd you say that?"

     The living room was completely empty except for Willow and Xander.  All the potentials had cleared out of the house, along with Anya, Andrew, and Dawn, who had taken them to play mini-golf.

     "Well, she loves Spike and now she just found out that she has to kill him," Willow said softly.  "Put yourself in her shoes," she added.

     It was quiet for a moment, and then Xander shuddered.  

     "What is it?" Willow asked.

     Xander gave a wolfish grin before he said, "Well, I put myself in her shoes, and I didn't love it.  The thoughts I was thinking…not pleasant."

     "Xander, why are you ignoring Buffy's love for Spike?  Can't you admit for once that Spike is your friend?"

     "When Angel was around, I wasn't all wanting to kill him because I was ignoring his love for Buffy.  If I didn't…well, then I would have been dancing in his dust.  Spike…I'm trying to ignore his love for Buffy, except for the part where he's annoying and I feel like I want to kill him anyway, so, basically, it's a win-win situation for me there," Xander explained.

     Willow frowned and commented, "But they both have souls."

     "I'm fine with Angel having a soul because he was cursed with it.  Spike having a soul is a different matter."

     "Well, all I know is that Spike got the soul for Buffy.  Why would that be any difference in your agenda?"

     "Well, last year, he tried to rape Buffy," Xander said, looking down at the carpet.  He knew that nobody had told Willow about that one night when Spike hurt Buffy, so he figured it was best that Willow knew now.

     Willow gasped as she looked to Xander.  "Why?  That, and why didn't anyone tell me last year when I came back from England?"

     "I don't know why he hurt her, but nobody told you because we all figured that it'd make you go around the bend again." Xander laughed, and looked up from the carpet.  "Which, obviously, you aren't," he acknowledged.

     "Well, I know that I was evil for a bit," Willow admitted, "but even if you did tell me last year, I still would have wanted to get revenge on Spike for Buffy's sake."  She suddenly pointed at Xander accusingly.  "You're just lucky I'm past my evil habit, mister, or else I would be getting revenge on you for not telling me sooner," she threatened jokingly.

     Xander grinned slightly.  "Yeah, but then I'll use my power: the story of the yellow crayon."

     Willow lowered her hand, and grinned.  "I love that story…" she rested her head on Xander's shoulder.  It was a quiet moment for the both of them…

     "I found the spell!" Giles' voice rang through the air.  The front door opened, and the ex-librarian walked in, holding a thick book in one hand.  "It was no easy task…I had to scrounge around the destroyed Magic Box before I could finally find it."

     Willow went back to her sitting position, lifting her head off of Xander's shoulder.  She stood up.  "You found the spell?  That's great!" she commented with a grin.  "So all we need to do is do the spell, and then kill Spike, and then we're done with everything."

     Giles hesitated before answering.  "Yes, although, if Buffy doesn't want to kill Spike, then we're at a dead end.  The pure soul must be drained of his blood by his loved one.  It won't work with another person.  So…all we need to do is try to persuade Buffy to kill Spike," Giles explained.  He sighed, setting the book down on the arm of the couch.  "Willow, can you please look through that book for the spell?"

     "Sure," Willow agreed, still grinning.

     "Thank you." Giles sighed once more, and added, "I still need to find information about the ritual.  I was planning to look through the Magic Box for the book that holds that information, but, unfortunately, almost all the books were…" Giles paused, looking for the right word.  "…Destroyed…and now I need to give Wesley a call…see if he has the book." Then he left the room.

     Frowning, Willow turned to Xander.  "I'm sorry, Xander, I need to be alone…I usually like to be alone when I'm looking for something…sometimes…I just need to…"

     A small frown appeared on Xander's face.  "That's all right…I'll just go to the kitchen…you can have the living room all to yourself…"

     "No!" Willow said quickly and Xander glanced at her.  "I mean…you stay here…be comfortable…I'll go up to my room…" she sighed, looking uncomfortable at the situation.  "I'm sorry, Xander, I just need to be alone."

     Xander nodded, and grinned.  "Okay…you go be alone."

     Grinning, Willow nodded, grabbed the book, and went upstairs.

     _Maybe it was something I said…yeah, that could be it…_Xander stood up and walked to the staircase.  "Was it something I said?" he asked, shouting so Willow could hear him.

     "No!" she shouted back.

     Nightfall came quickly…too quickly for Willow to realize, for before she knew it, dinner was served.  She had flipped through the book, twice, in fact, and had come across nothing concerning the spell to change Spike to human.

     Anya, Andrew, Dawn and all the potentials were back from playing mini-golf, and they were all now gathered in the kitchen or dining room, eating a plate of macaroni and cheese before going out on patrol with Buffy.

     "Hey, Xander," Willow greeted silently, coming into the kitchen.  

     Xander handed her a plate of macaroni and cheese, and asked with concern clear in his voice, "Anything?"

     Willow shook her head, grabbing a fork.  "No, nothing yet…I flipped through the book twice and I came across no 'change vampire to human' spell.  I'm starting to think I got gypped," she added with mock-anger.

     "You'll find the spell…" Xander said, grabbing his own plate of macaroni and cheese. 

     "What if I don't, though?  What if we can't defeat the demon?"

     "We'll defeat the demon…I'm sure of it."

     Willow took Xander's hand into her own.  "I hope you're right," she muttered, her confidence within her voice uncertain and unbelieving.

     After all the girls finished their dinner, Buffy announced that it was time to go patrolling.  All the girls gathered in the living room, along with Spike, who was still looking injured.

     "Are you sure you're up to patrolling, Spike?" Buffy asked.

     "Maybe…" the vampire answered, uncertain if he could patrol because of his injuries.

     "Well, if he doesn't want to go with you, we can stay here and watch Jurassic Park," Andrew, who was close nearby, suggested happily.  "And then we can watch Star Wars!" he added, excitement in his voice.

     Spike grimaced.  "Yeah, I'm up to it," he answered, glaring at Andrew.

     "Okay…but I'm keeping an eye on you…I don't want the demon getting you…killing you," she added quietly, tears in her eyes.  She blinked them away, turning to the girls.  "Okay, it's gonna be a simple patrol.  We'll stake a few vamps, maybe kill a weak little demon, and then we can practice throwing the stake at the vampire's heart…and this time you guys will succeed…" she looked to Spike, who continued for her.

     "Because getting hit in the head with a plastic stake?  Not that fun…and it bloody well hurt," he said, glaring at Vi, who gulped.

     "It was only one time…and you were only knocked out for at least…ten minutes…or maybe more…" Vi stammered.

     "In any case, when you throw the stake, it has to be directed at the vampire's heart…let's leave…" Buffy led the girls' and Spike out the door.  She paused, looking over her shoulder at her friends.  "I'll catch up with you guys!" she shouted out the door to Spike and the others.  "Willow…"

     Both Willow and Xander were next to Andrew, leaning against the wall.  "Yeah?" Willow answered, her voice unsure of what Buffy was going to ask.

     "I'm counting on you…to look after Spike…just follow him wherever he goes without us by his side…"

     "We will, Buffy.  We were planning to go to the ice cream place tonight anyway," Willow informed, motioning to Xander.  

     "Okay…thank you…" She smiled, her eyes showing sadness.  She sighed, and then left.

     Xander turned to Willow, confusion in his eyes.  "Ice cream?"

     Willow grinned.  "Just an excuse for you and me to go out…" 

     Then Willow and Xander left.

     Andrew frowned, and sighed.  "Hey, what about me?" he said quietly.

A/N: Okay, I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as I can, although with me starting high school next week, I doubt it will be any time soon that the next chapter will be out…but I'll try…


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